Yardimci S, et al. – This study assessed the surveillance results of the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) patients who have asymptomatic gallbladder stones and did not undergo cholecystectomy. Findings suggested that in comparison to a healthy population, LSG patients had a comparable risk of becoming symptomatic for asymptomatic cholelithiasis. Although further studies with a high number of cases were required, only observation was suggested for asymptomatic gallbladder stones in patients who would undergo sleeve gastrectomy.

Methods

• The study included patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy with preoperatively detected gallbladder stones and completed at least 6 months follow-up.
• Symptomatic patients underwent concomitant cholecystectomy while it was not performed for asymptomatic subjects.
• Authors recorded symptoms and signs related to gallbladder disease at the end of the follow-up time.
• They compared clinical and demographic characteristics between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

Results

• 312 laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomies were performed from February 2012 to October 2016.
• 24 patients indicated asymptomatic cholelithiasis and underwent cholecystectomy.
• The mean follow-up period of 27 (6–58) months was observed.
• In this study, the mean preoperative BMI was 50.0 ± 7.6 kg/m², and at the end of the follow-up time, it decreased to 35.6 ± 8.8 kg/m².
• Biliary colic was observed in five (20.8%) patients.
• No patient indicated acute cholecystitis or obstructive jaundice.
• Findings revealed no marked difference between characteristics of patients who developed symptomatic gallbladder disease (n = 5) from those patients who remained asymptomatic (n = 19).